Officials in both Riverhead and Brookhaven towns say they support an idea to change the boundaries of the Manorville and Riverhead ambulance companies to better serve residents in Manorville and Calverton. (more…)

Manorville resident Clare Bennett’s request this week to have Manorville ambulances instead of Riverhead ambulances respond to calls on her Oakwood Drive block and the immediate neighborhood is one of them.

Such a change would affect about 60 families that live at the edge of town and find themselves in the Riverhead Volunteer Ambulance district, even though they’re much closer to Manorville Community Ambulance headquarters. And we’re talking light-years closer, considering what’s at stake.

The Riverhead Volunteer Ambulance headquarters on Osborn Avenue is 10.2 miles from Oakwood Drive, while the Manorville ambulance headquarters on South Street is 3.75 miles from Oakwood. It’s actually surprising it’s taken this long for folks in these communities to speak out.

Ms. Bennett begged Riverhead Town Board members for help Tuesday, saying that she had to wait quite a while (40 minutes, a number Riverhead ambulance officials found hard to fathom) for an ambulance to arrive at her home for three separate medical emergencies in recent years. Each time she had to wait, even while knowing a row of shiny Manorville Community Ambulance vehicles stood ready just a few minutes away.

The situation is unacceptable. But because Riverhead Volunteer Ambulance is funded by a tax base that’s entirely in Riverhead Town and Manorville Community Ambulance is funded by a tax base that’s entirely in Brookhaven Town, Supervisor Sean Walter explained to Ms. Bennett on Tuesday, the only way Manorville ambulances could be allowed to respond to a Riverhead Town address would be for Riverhead to contract with Manorville for ambulance services.

But he also said the board would do what it could to make that happen and that he personally would contact Brookhaven Supervisor Mark Lesko to get the ball rolling.

So often, requests like these — residents’ imploring local officials to try to fix blatant problems with school, fire or other taxing districts — are dismissed as being impossible to achieve. So Mr. Walter’s response was encouraging.

Ms. Bennett also made it clear her request has nothing to do with dissatisfaction with the work of Riverhead volunteers. Riverhead ambulance officials should not take the Manorville resident’s request as a slight and, in response, try to jealously protect their “territory,” which is known to happen from time to time among proud emergency responders.

Should town officials in Riverhead and Brookhaven not act, Ms. Bennett vowed to circulate a petition among her neighbors, whom she said support her. This is a serious situation with a logical solution. It should not have to come to residents needing to petition en masse.

Residents of Oakwood Drive in Manorville live in the Riverhead Volunteer Ambulance district, but they’re much closer to the Manorville Community Ambulance.

That’s why some residents from that area are hoping to find a way to let Manorville ambulance respond to calls in that neighborhood.

Clare Bennett of Oakwood Drive asked the Riverhead Town Board on Tuesday to try to allow calls in her neighborhood to be handled by Manorville.

“I’m basically a healthy person but I have needed an ambulance three times in the last five years,” Ms. Bennett said.

The first two times, she said, the Riverhead ambulance took 40 minutes to get to her home, and the third time, when she had a heart issue, her husband got there from Hampton Bays before the ambulance arrived.

On another instance, “When my eight year old nephew needed an emergency appendectomy, he knew something was wrong, but he did not want to call an ambulance,” she said.

“The Manorville ambulance is three minutes away,” she said.

Ms. Bennett said she spoke with the Riverhead Police Department on the issue and was told that on the first two calls, the Riverhead ambulance got lost looking for her house due to a mistake on the e911 system, which showed her address as being on Oakwood Drive in Calverton.

There is an Oakwood Drive in Calverton, close to Long Island Sound, and its almost 10 miles from Oakwood Drive in Manorville.

The E911 system automatically displays the address of a caller for dispatchers without the caller needing to say anything. Historically, having two or more roads with the same name can be troublesome for the system.

Kim Pokorny, the president of the Riverhead Volunteer Ambulance board of directors, said this is the first she’s heard of any problems getting to Manorville.

“The only thing I can think of is if the 911 call gets picked up Suffolk County Police E911, there could be a delay, because surely it doesn’t take 40 minutes for us to get there,” Ms. Pokorny said.

The problem with the E911 giving the Calverton address also could be a factor, she said.

Because the Riverhead Volunteer Ambulance is funded by a tax base that’s entirely in Riverhead Town, and the Manorville Community Ambulance is funded by a tax base that’s entirely in Brookhaven Town, the only way Manorville ambulance could be allowed to respond to a Riverhead Town address would be for Riverhead to contract for services with Manorville in this neighborhood, according to Supervisor Sean Walter.

Mr. Walter said he will call Brookhaven Supervisor Mark Lesco to begin negotiations on the plan.

The supervisor said he’s unsure how to fix the problem with E911, however.

Ms. Bennett said there are 12 residents on Oakwood Drive in Manorville and 61 families in the immediate area with Manorville addresses in Riverhead Town.

She said her neighbors are ready to begin a petition drive.

According to Yahoo maps, the Riverhead ambulance headquarters on Osborn Avenue is 10.2 miles from Oakwood Drive in Manorville, while the Manorville ambulance headquarters on South Street is 3.75 miles from Oakwood Drive.

Ms. Bennett said she didn’t want to slight ambulance volunteers with her request.

“We’re very grateful to the men and women who do this,” she told the Town Board.

The Oakwood Drive neighborhood is the area that was hardest hit by the wildfire that spread through the Manorville and Calverton areas earlier this year. The area is just north of the Peconic River, which is the border between the two towns.